TV Ratings For 2019 NBA Playoffs Down Nine Percent Compared To 2018

Post #1 » by **RealGM Wiretap** » Thu May 9, 2019 10:13 pm

Ratings for the 2019 NBA Playoffs is down almost nine percent through the same period last season (excluding Wednesday's games).

The average game this season is drawing 3.19 million viewers compared to 3.75 million viewers last season.

The estimates come from Nielsen and doesn't include people watching on their phones or via illegal streams.

Via Sopan Deb/New York Times

Chris3323 · Post #2 » by **Chris3323** » Thu May 9, 2019 11:06 pm

LeBron not playing = less people watching

Post #3 » by **Reeko** » Thu May 9, 2019 11:21 pm

Looks like y'all are blaming Kawhi being in Toronto for the decrease in viewership.

jason bourne · Post #4 » by **jason bourne** » Fri May 10, 2019 12:04 am

Chris3323 wrote:LeBron not playing = less people watching

Could be and why LeBron may be traded back to the East.

WestbrookGOATed · Post #5 » by **WestbrookGOATed** » Fri May 10, 2019 12:35 am

Now they'll have to make sure Lebron goes back to the playoffs.

Vegeta10176 · Post #6 » by **Vegeta10176** » Fri May 10, 2019 1:22 am

Best2EverDoIt wrote:Now they'll have to make sure Lebron goes back to the playoffs.

Well despite this second round being pretty interesting the rating are down because LBJ is not playing that's just a fact.. If LBJ gets injured he ain't going to playoffs cause his team currently can't win games without him.. Toronto won plenty with out Kawhi.. Warriors win missing either KD or Steph.. Houston wins with out harden although a lot of injuries this year would of been bad for him not to play.. Sixers win without Embiid.. Bucks would be capable of winning a fair few games without Giannis.. Jeannie Buss is a joke of a GM..I am not sure LBJ will get the right players to be back in the playoffs and no-one is going to make this happen

Winsome Gerbil · Post #7 » by **Winsome Gerbil** » Fri May 10, 2019 3:13 am

Don't worry, Adam Silver is going to cure the problem by hiring a bunch of lady refs.

Of course maybe the plan is to make them wear bikinis as they ref.

Sam195 · Post #8 » by **Sam195** » Fri May 10, 2019 4:21 am

Chris3323 wrote:LeBron not playing = less people watching

More people are also cord cutting and pirating. The value for television rights whether national or local has peaked and is about to free fall. Disney purchased Fox's movie and television assets for $71.3B with an appraisal of 21 Fox Regional Sports networks and the Yes Network in that deal worth about $22B. The Justice Department to approve that deal told Disney they would have to sell/auction off those channels because they already own espn and carry too much clout in the sports rights market. Disney ended up selling the 21 RSNs for $9.6B and the Yes Network to a consortium of Sinclair, Amazon and private equity for $3.5B. That is a total of $13.1B for sports rights that likely cost double what they are worth today factoring in already expired term in the deals.

Add to that there are more legal streaming options coming online like ESPN+, DAZN and live sports on Hulu on top of the existing streaming services offered by major leagues directly like NBA League pass. They are also contracting some streaming rights of specific games (usually ones they don't expect to draw tons of viewers) to amazon, google/youtube and other social media sites like twitter just to generate another paltry source of revenue. The nba, nfl and other major sports already see the writing on the wall and are pushing hard for sports gambling to be legalized nationwide to help them compensate for the lost revenue from declining valuation of television rights. The nba took it even farther by pushing for the jersey patch sponsors and letting teams like the Warriors and the Bucks who build new arenas to sell personal seat licenses for season ticket holders.

typop · Post #9 » by **typop** » Fri May 10, 2019 4:27 am

Someone at the NYT needs to check his math. If those raw numbers are correct, it's a 15% drop, not "almost 9%."

CH Smoot · Post #10 » by **CH Smoot** » Fri May 10, 2019 4:41 am

Winsome Gerbil wrote:Don't worry, Adam Silver is going to cure the problem by hiring a bunch of lady refs.

Of course maybe the plan is to make them wear bikinis as they ref.

Shoehorned outrage.

BigHustle · Post #11 » by **BigHustle** » Fri May 10, 2019 11:32 am

Winsome Gerbil wrote:Don't worry, Adam Silver is going to cure the problem by hiring a bunch of lady refs.

Of course maybe the plan is to make them wear bikinis as they ref.

If the lady refs have to wear bikinis, the male refs would also have to wear bikinis. I can’t get the image of Scott foster or Tony Brothers in a banana sling out of my mind...

Wreckonized · Post #12 » by **Wreckonized** » Fri May 10, 2019 11:43 am

The LeBron effect.

Wildcat · Post #13 » by **Wildcat** » Fri May 10, 2019 5:31 pm

I didn't watch the playoffs for the last 5 years. This is the first time that I'm interested in what's going on. I've watched at least 15 games so far. Quality over quantity.

Bricks · Post #14 » by **Bricks** » Fri May 10, 2019 6:42 pm

maybe the viewers are tired of flopping and refs fixing the game.